Everyday problems: jumping, barking, chewing, mouthing and stealing

A problem plan replaces a behavior with one the dog already knows: management, a replacement, a reward and a household that does the same thing. Some problems go to a professional.

1. The line this chapter draws Understand

Everything else in this chapter assumes a dog that is comfortable, healthy and doing something annoying because it works. A dog that bites, guards or panics is in a different situation. The behavior may look the same from across the room (barking at the door, grabbing a sock, mouthing a hand), but the reason under it is different, and the reason decides the treatment.

The veterinary sources are direct about this. The 2015 AAHA behavior guidelines say that aggression, and any problem that needs a clinical diagnosis, is not handed to a trainer for primary treatment. The American College of Veterinary Behaviorists recommends a veterinary behaviorist for any animal that shows aggressive behavior, and warns that aggression that is mismanaged or treated late often gets worse. The Merck Veterinary Manual's owner pages say to seek veterinary help as soon as any sign of aggression appears, because of the risk of injury and of the aggression getting worse. Ask the authority

What "management only" means

Management only means you change the dog's surroundings so the problem cannot happen, and you do not train your way through the trigger yourself. VCA's handout on getting started with aggression lists what an owner does while waiting for help:

• Write down every situation where the dog has stared, snarled, growled, snapped or bitten, and avoid those situations for now.
• Do not test the dog's tolerance. VCA says one incident can set progress back, and each event teaches the dog that the behavior works.
• Use gates, closed doors, a crate the dog already likes, or a leash held by an adult the dog does not threaten, during meals, visits and anything else on the list.
• Give a dog that guards food or chews space until it has finished, behind a barrier if needed.
• Leave risk assessment, the treatment plan, and decisions about keeping or rehoming the dog to the professional.

A plan row for a dog on this path still gets written. Its management column fills up, its replacement column says "waits for the professional," and its status says "needs a professional." The plan sheet presets that status for you when your setup lists growling, snapping or guarding, or any bite history.

Fear the dog does not recover from

Read your dog taught you to watch whether the dog can still eat, look away and respond, and how long it takes to settle after a trigger. A dog that barks at the delivery van, then shakes off and takes a treat within a minute, is having an ordinary reaction. A dog that cannot eat, keeps scanning, or takes a long time to settle afterwards is telling you the trigger is too much. Barking, jumping or chewing that comes with that kind of fear is a fear problem first. It goes to the stop-and-call list in Read your dog, not to a replacement-behavior plan.

A sudden change is a veterinary question

Before you plan around any problem that started suddenly in an adult dog, see the veterinarian. ASPCA's barking page puts a veterinary exam first because dogs bark in response to pain. ASPCA's page on finding behavior help notes that only a licensed veterinarian can diagnose a medical condition. VCA's aggression overview lists medical causes the veterinarian rules out, among them thyroid disease, seizures and pain. Ask the authority

2. The problem plan

Most everyday problems are not mysteries. They are behaviors that paid off. The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior (AVSAB) makes this point in its position statement on dominance theory. It says most behaviors owners want to change, such as excessive barking, unruly greetings and not coming when called, happen because they were rewarded by accident and nothing else was taught. Its examples: dogs jump on people because jumping gets attention, and a dog that steals food when no one is watching is not making a bid for rank.

That explanation gives you the plan. If the behavior is paid, stop the pay. If nothing else was taught, teach something else and pay that. This is why this manual does not use dominance language. "He is trying to be the boss" points to a contest. "He jumps because jumping gets a face-to-face hello" points to a fix.

Before, behavior, after

Behavior professionals describe a problem in three parts. The Merck Veterinary Manual's page on diagnosing behavior problems calls them the ABCs:

• The antecedent is what happens just before the behavior: the doorbell, a guest bending down, a sandwich left on the counter.
• The behavior is what the dog does, described so that two people would agree on it: "jumps and puts both front paws on the guest's chest," not "goes crazy."
• The consequence is what happens right after, and in this manual it means what the dog gets: attention, a game of chase, food, distance from something it dislikes.

Write the antecedent and the consequence from what you see, not from what you assume. Watch the next few times the problem happens, and note the time, the place, who was there and what came just before. People often find the antecedent is narrower than they thought: not "guests" but "the second guest, when two arrive together."

The seven parts of a plan

The plan sheet has one column for each part. The table shows what each column answers, with the worked example from See it.

The last three columns of the sheet (started, result after a week, status) are the record. They tell you whether the plan is working, and they are what a trainer or veterinarian will ask to see.

Why management comes first

Management is any change to the dog's surroundings that prevents the problem: a leash at the door, a gate across the kitchen, shoes in a closet, trash in a cupboard. How dogs learn introduced it as the other half of training. Here it does a specific job. VCA's greeting handout says behaviors that get dogs what they want are repeated. Every time the dog jumps and gets a hello, or raids the counter and finds a crust, the old behavior is paid again. Training the replacement takes weeks. Management stops the payments while it happens.

Some behaviors pay the dog by themselves, with no one involved. VCA's handout on stealing says food on a counter is appealing on its own. This is a self-rewarding behavior: one whose payoff comes from the act itself, such as eating found food, chewing or digging. You cannot withhold the payoff for these, so management carries more of the plan. Physical principle

Choosing a replacement

A replacement behavior is something the dog does instead of the problem behavior, in the same situation. The best ones make the problem impossible while they last. Humane World for Animals (formerly the Humane Society of the United States) puts it simply for jumping: a dog cannot sit and jump at the same time. Trainers call this an incompatible behavior.

Pick a replacement the dog already knows from First behaviors, Loose-leash walking, Come when called and Settle, stay and leave it: a sit, a down, a hand target, going to a mat, leave it, drop it. A brand-new behavior will fall apart at the first doorbell. Check its stage in the cue inventory. If it is "on the word" only in the kitchen, the plan includes practicing it near the door before you need it there. Proof it and keep going calls this proofing.

VCA's greeting handout warns that stopping a behavior without teaching a replacement creates frustration, and that even mild corrections such as loud noises or a squirt of water can make a dog afraid. The dog may then link the fear with the person it was trying to greet. That is the risk this manual avoids. How dogs learn sets out the position statements on methods.

Paying the replacement

The reward has to be worth at least as much to the dog as the old payoff. Often the best reward is the thing the dog wanted all along, given for the new behavior: the guest's hello arrives when the dog sits; the walk starts when the dog is quiet; the toy comes out when the paws are on the floor. Food from the day's meals, or extras within the budget on the treat budget page, fills the gaps, especially while the replacement is new.

Who does what

The plan fails at the person who does not follow it. VCA's greeting handout explains why: if jumping is paid only sometimes, or by some people, it can get stronger, not weaker, because a behavior paid on and off is hard to stop. Humane World for Animals makes the same point: everyone in the family follows the rule every time. Write who handles the dog, who pays the replacement and what visitors are asked to do. Then read the row out loud to the household and add the rule to the household sheet. Convention

What to record, and when to change the plan

Write a short note each day for the first three days: how often the problem happened, and whether the replacement happened instead. After a week, fill in "result after a week" and choose a status. Expect a bumpy start. How dogs learn named extinction: when a payoff stops, a behavior often gets worse for a while before it fades. A worse week that settles is common. A worse week that comes with new warning signals (stiffening, growling, a dog that will not take food) is not. Stop and move to the help list. Test it

If a week shows no change, check three things before you change the replacement. Is someone still paying the old behavior? Is the replacement solid where the problem happens, or only in the kitchen? Is the reward worth more than the old payoff? Most stalled plans fail on one of these.

3. Five everyday problems

Each problem below gets the same treatment: what usually pays it, what to manage, what to teach instead, and where it stops being an everyday problem. The table is the short version.

Jumping on people

VCA's handout on jumping up, written by three veterinary behaviorists and a veterinary behavior technician, gives three reasons dogs jump. Most dogs are shorter than the people they greet, and jumping brings them closer to face level. Jumping usually gets attention, so it is repeated. And some dogs jump from excitement, or from unease about the greeting itself. The third reason matters: a dog that leans away, looks away, lowers its head or tail, or pins its ears during a greeting is not sure about it. VCA says not to let anyone reach toward or touch a dog showing those signals, and to use treats rather than petting for that dog.

Pushing, scolding and kneeing do not stop jumping. VCA explains that even scolding or pushing the dog away is attention, which a social dog finds rewarding. Humane World for Animals adds that a large dog can knock down and injure a child or a frail adult, which is why greetings are worth training and not only tolerating.

The plan:

1. Decide the greeting you want. VCA starts every plan here: four paws on the floor, a sit, or calmly ignoring the person until invited.
2. Manage every real greeting. Put the leash on before the door opens. VCA suggests holding it just taut enough that the dog cannot easily jump, with no pulling or jerking. A gate or a closed room works too.
3. Pay the floor before the jump. In practice greetings with family, feed the dog low, on the floor between its front paws, as it arrives and before it has a chance to jump. VCA notes that feeding low keeps the dog on the floor. Toss the next treat a few feet away so the dog can come back and greet again.
4. Add the sit once four-on-the-floor is easy. Then ask for the sit as the dog arrives, and pay it.
5. Raise one thing at a time. More excitement, a new room, a person the dog knows less well, the front door: change one, keep the rest easy.
6. Teach visitors the rule. A guest greets the dog only when its paws are down. Humane World's version: if the dog stands up or jumps, the greeter turns and walks away, and comes back.

Humane World also says not to force a dog to greet someone who frightens it. Greeting practice uses people the dog likes.

Barking

Barking is normal dog communication, and the goal is less of it, not none. ASPCA's barking page says so directly, and adds that some dogs and some breeds bark more than others. Both ASPCA and Humane World for Animals start in the same place: find out why the dog barks, because each cause has a different plan. ASPCA's questions are a good first page of notes: when and where does it happen, what is the target, what sets it off?

The common thread is Humane World's line that a barking dog gets something from it, or it would not bark. For alert barking the reward is that the passerby leaves, which happens every time. That is why blocking the view does so much: the dog stops rehearsing a behavior that works every time. Physical principle

Yelling does not help. Humane World says shouting at a dog to be quiet does not reduce barking. ASPCA adds that a dog barking from fear or anxiety can feel worse if it is punished, and that "Who's there?" and running to the window encourage alert barking. ASPCA describes anti-bark collars as punishment devices that are not a first choice, especially for barking from fear, anxiety or compulsion. This manual does not use them. Barking that is repetitive and fixed (at shadows, light, nothing visible), often with pacing or spinning, is what ASPCA calls compulsive barking, and it goes to a veterinary behaviorist or certified applied animal behaviorist.

Chewing and digging

Chewing is normal at every age. ASPCA's destructive chewing page lists what it does for a dog: it relieves teething pain in puppies, keeps an adult's jaws strong and teeth clean, and eases boredom and mild anxiety. The problem is what gets chewed, not the chewing.

Teething is the stage when a puppy's baby teeth fall out and adult teeth come in. AKC's teething guide gives the timeline: a puppy has 28 baby teeth, which start to fall out at about three to four months to make room for 42 adult teeth, and they should be gone by about six months. Retained baby teeth are a question for the veterinarian. ASPCA says the intensified chewing of teething usually ends by six months. Physical principle After that, an adult that still destroys things is usually bored, under-exercised, or chewing for another reason worth finding.

The plan for chewing:

• Dog-proof. Shoes in a closed closet, laundry in a hamper, books on shelves, trash in a cupboard. Humane World's version: if you do not want it in the dog's mouth, do not leave it where the dog can reach.
• Give approved chews, and rotate them. ASPCA suggests introducing something new or rotating chew toys every couple of days, and watching which ones keep the dog busy longest. Do not offer old shoes or cushions; a dog cannot tell an old shoe from a new one.
• Use part of the meal. A food puzzle stuffed with some of the day's ration gives the dog something to work on at the times it usually chews.
• Supervise or confine. When you cannot watch, the dog goes to a dog-proofed area with its own toys. ASPCA describes confinement while you work of up to six hours for a dog; for a puppy, the limit is the shorter of that and its holding interval (House training) or the crate guidance for its age (Crate, pen and alone time).
• Trade, do not grab. If the dog has something it should not, offer a toy or a treat in exchange. Humane World warns that pulling items from a dog's mouth can teach it to guard or to run off with things.

Two patterns are not everyday chewing. Chewing that happens only, or most, when the dog is alone, with whining, pacing or accidents, points to separation anxiety, and ASPCA routes it there (Crate, pen and alone time). And a dog on a calorie-restricted diet may chew food-smelling things, which ASPCA notes; that is a conversation with the veterinarian who set the diet.

Do not punish chewing you find later. ASPCA says a dog does not connect punishment with something it did minutes or hours before. Humane World adds that the "guilty look" is appeasement, the dog reacting to your tone and posture, not a sign it knows what it did.

Puppy mouthing

Puppies use their mouths in play, and they play with people the way they play with littermates. VCA's handout on play biting says mouthing and nipping is usually social play rather than teething (teething looks more like gnawing on objects). The skill a puppy needs is bite inhibition: control over the force of its mouth. ASPCA notes that some behaviorists and trainers believe a dog that has learned to be gentle is less likely to break skin if it ever bites someone when afraid or in pain. That is a belief several sources share, not a measured result.

The plan, from three sources that agree on the shape:

• Teeth on skin end the game. VCA says any contact with skin stops play and attention at once. AKC says biting during play means play is over.
• Redirect to a toy. Keep a tug toy or chew within reach, and offer it the moment the mouth heads for a hand or ankle (AKC, ASPCA). Tug is a good outlet if the game has rules: VCA says you start it, and play stops when teeth touch skin or clothing.
• Use short time-outs, of the lengths ASPCA gives. For a hard bite, ignore the puppy for 10 to 20 seconds, or get up and move away for 10 to 20 seconds, then go back to gentle play. Later, as hard bites disappear, any tooth contact means walking away for 30 to 60 seconds; if the puppy follows and keeps nipping, leave the room for 30 to 60 seconds. Preference
• Check the basics. AKC notes that a biting puppy is often an overtired one, and may also need a potty break or be hungry or thirsty. A nap in a crate or pen the puppy likes is not a punishment; AKC says to keep it calm so the crate is not linked with one.
• Pay calm. Feed small treats from the other hand while you pet a mouthy puppy (ASPCA), and reward quiet moments with a piece of kibble (AKC).
• Prefer games without hands. Fetch and tug, not wrestling (ASPCA). Do not wave fingers in the puppy's face, and let your hands go still rather than jerking them away, which invites a grab.

Some sources add a yelp. ASPCA describes a high-pitched yelp for a hard bite, used no more than three times in 15 minutes before switching to time-outs. AKC warns that a yelp gets some puppies more worked up. If yours escalates at the sound, skip it and go straight to ending the game. Test it

Children change the plan. VCA says a child's attempts to stop a puppy are often badly timed and read by the puppy as an invitation to more chasing. Mouthing practice happens with an adult present, and the puppy is separated from young children when no adult is actively watching (the supervision rule in Read your dog).

Two points send mouthing elsewhere. First, the body: ASPCA describes a stiff or frozen body, lips pulled back, a growl and bites that hurt much more than play as signs of something other than play, and says to see a certified applied animal behaviorist or veterinary behaviorist. Second, age: AKC's chief veterinarian says that if play biting has not eased by six months, it is a good idea to consult an experienced trainer or animal behavior specialist. Ask the authority

Stealing and counter surfing

Counter surfing is a dog standing up at a counter or table to take food. It is self-rewarding: the dog finds food, and the food pays it whether or not anyone is in the room. The Merck manual's owner page groups chewing, stealing, raiding the trash and digging as normal exploration in dogs left unsupervised with nothing better to do. VCA's handout on stealing sorts the reasons: food is appealing on its own; a puppy left alone finds things; and a dog that has been chased once learns that stealing starts a game.

Management carries most of this plan, because you cannot remove the payoff of found food:

• Nothing edible on counters or tables within reach, and nothing left cooling at the edge of the stove.
• Food trash in a cupboard or a lidded bin out of reach. VCA suggests two containers: a small one out of reach for food waste and a large one for everything else.
• Gates or closed doors on the kitchen during cooking and meals, or the dog on its mat with a chew (Settle, stay and leave it).
• Supervision or confinement whenever no one is watching.

Then teach the behaviors that replace it: leave it before the dog takes something, drop it or a trade (offering something the dog values more in exchange for what it has) after, and a mat during meal preparation. VCA also describes a "take it" cue, so the dog learns to pick up food when it is given permission. Settle, stay and leave it teaches leave it and drop it.

Do not chase. Humane World for Animals says being chased is fun for the dog, so chasing gives it what it wants; call the dog and offer a treat instead. VCA says not to reach for a dog in anger after it has taken something, because threats risk fear and aggression and make the dog more likely to guard what it takes. VCA also points out that a good drop it limits damage but does not stop stealing; only management and leave it do that.

If the dog stiffens, freezes, growls or gulps the item as you approach, the problem is no longer stealing. It is guarding, and it is on the line at the top of this chapter.

4. Enrichment: remove the cause

Many everyday problems are a dog finding its own entertainment. ASPCA's enrichment page says dogs that do not get enough stimulation find ways to enrich themselves, and that this shows up as unwanted behavior. Enrichment means giving the dog regular outlets for normal dog behavior: sniffing, chewing, foraging, chasing, playing and learning. Ohio State's Indoor Pet Initiative sorts it into five categories (food, sensory, novel objects, social contact and positive training) and adds two conditions: the dog has to actually engage with it, and it should not frighten the dog.

Exercise belongs here too, sized to the dog. VCA's exercise handout says a 20-minute walk every day beats a two-hour walk on Sunday, and that puppies do better with short spurts of play at their own pace than with long runs. Humane World for Animals notes that letting a dog sniff is more enriching than a fast walk without stops. No source we use gives a fixed exchange rate between sniffing and walking, so we do not either. Test it The test is your own log: if the problem happens less on days with a sniff walk and a food puzzle, that is the evidence for your dog.

5. Problems this manual sends elsewhere

A problem plan is for behavior that a healthy, comfortable dog does because it pays. The problems below are different in kind. Each needs someone who can examine the dog, take a full history and, where needed, prescribe medication. Until then, your job is management, a record of what you have seen, and a name on the help list.

ASPCA's page on finding behavior help draws the same line: problems such as resource guarding, handling issues, separation anxiety and aggression need individual attention from a qualified behavior professional, not a group class. It also says the issues that most often need medication include separation anxiety, phobias, compulsive behaviors and fear. VCA's storm and fireworks handout describes a desensitization program built on a settled mat (Settle, stay and leave it), done in the off-season, with medication as the veterinarian's decision. We name it so you recognize it; the program itself belongs to your veterinarian.

For a noise-sensitive dog, the parts of this manual that help are the mat settle from Settle, stay and leave it and the record. The parts that do not belong to this manual are the exposure program and the medication.

7. See it See it

Free demonstrations and the pages behind this chapter:

• VCA, Greeting Behavior: Jumping Up: a step-by-step greeting plan from three veterinary behaviorists and a veterinary behavior technician, including the calm "hello" drill and feeding low.
• ASPCA, Mouthing, Nipping and Biting in Puppies: the time-out lengths used above, and the signs that separate a tantrum from play.
• Humane World for Animals, destructive chewing: the trade-not-grab approach and the "guilty look" explained.
• Humane World for Animals, barking: six ways to reduce barking by cause, including the doorbell-to-bed exercise.

8. Practice Practice

Minimum: one problem, observed three times, written into one plan row with one management change and one known replacement, followed for three days. Time: about 30 minutes to observe and write, a 5-minute household briefing, then a few minutes a day for three days. Materials: the plan sheet, extras from the day's budget or kibble from the day's meals, and whatever the management change needs (a leash, a gate, a closed cupboard).

1. Choose the problem. If you listed more than one concern, start with the one that happens most often and is easiest to manage. If you listed none, write a prevention plan for greetings at the door or food on the counter.
2. Observe three times. For each, write the time, place, who was there, what came just before, exactly what the dog did, and what happened right after. Do not change anything yet.
3. Find the payoff. Look at what happened right after, across all three notes. The thing that happened every time is your best guess at the payoff.
4. Set up the management change today. Choose the smallest change that stops the dog practicing the behavior: leash, gate, a closed door, the trash in a cupboard.
5. Pick the replacement and check its stage. Use the cue inventory. If the replacement is solid only in the kitchen, do two short sessions of it where the problem happens, with no trigger present, before the first real use.
6. Write the row. Fill in every column of the plan sheet through the start date. Add the house rule to the household sheet.
7. Brief the household. Read the row out loud. Agree who handles the dog, who pays, and what visitors or children do.
8. Run it for three days. Each evening, write one line in the result column: how many times the problem happened, and how many times the replacement happened instead.

9. Your dog Your dog

10. Check your work Check your work

Criteria

• Is the problem written as something two people would agree they saw, not as a label such as "naughty" or "dominant"?
• Does the "before" column come from what you observed, with the narrowest trigger you could find?
• Does the "after" column name what the dog gets, and is that payoff now blocked or withheld by the management change?
• Is the replacement a behavior the dog already does on cue, and does it make the problem impossible while it lasts?
• Is the reward worth at least as much to the dog as the old payoff, and is the food counted, either out of the bowl or against the extras budget?
• Does every person in the household, and every regular visitor, know their part?
• If your dog has bitten, snapped or guarded, or you are not sure, is the row management only, with a name on the help list?

Worked example

Moose's row (Fictional example) meets the criteria. The problem is observable: both paws on a guest's chest. The before is narrow and was written after three arrivals. The payoff, a bending and talking greeting, is withheld by the rule that guests greet only with four paws down. The leash stops rehearsal on the days the rule slips. The replacement, sit, is on the word in the kitchen. The reward is the greeting itself plus kibble counted against his allowance, not cheese. The roles fit the household: Dayo handles because Lena cannot. The week's result is recorded honestly, including what still fails. The remaining gap is proofing: sit near the front door with two guests is a harder place than the kitchen, which is exactly what Proof it and keep going works on.

Common mistakes

• Training without management. The replacement gets a few practice reps while the old behavior gets paid ten times a day. Check whether the dog can still rehearse the problem.
• One person who still pays it. A visitor who "doesn't mind" jumping, or a family member who slips food from the table, keeps the behavior strong. Ask each person what they do, and write it down.
• A replacement the dog does not know there. A sit that works in the kitchen is not yet a sit at the front door. If the replacement fails, practice it where the problem happens, without the trigger.
• Scolding as part of the plan. Scolding is attention for a jumping or barking dog, and it can frighten a dog that is already unsure. If a note says "told him off," the plan has a gap.
• Reading guarding as stealing. A dog that stiffens or growls with a stolen item is on the line at the top of this chapter. Stop the plan and move to the help list.

What is still unresolved

Three days show whether the plan is being followed and whether the problem is dropping. They do not show how the plan holds up in new places or when the dog is excited. That is the proofing in Proof it and keep going. Whether a problem is ordinary or a sign of fear, pain or anxiety is a judgment this chapter cannot make for you. Your observations sheet, your veterinarian and, where the line applies, a behavior professional settle it.

11. Knowledge check and scenario

Checklist

• The plan sheet has one row filled from the problem to the start date, with three days of notes in the result column.
• The management change is in place and the household has heard the plan.
• If my dog has bitten, snapped or guarded, or I am not sure, the row is management only and the help list has the veterinarian's name.
• Ten practice repetitions of the trigger with a helper, with one thing raised at a time. (Go deeper; optional)
• A first muzzle conditioning session: sniff and treat, no strap. (Go deeper; optional)